Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Women, politics and online abuse - By Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy
Monday, March 12, 2018
Malaysiakini : "What needs to be addressed is how government-sanctioned
platforms that could have been used to preach tolerance, love and
respect are instead being used to spread evil gospels that preach hatred
and overzealous bigotry.” – Syerleena Abdul Rashid
COMMENT | The online abuse
against DAP’s Syerleena Abdul Rashid is typical of the mob mentality of
those who attack someone like Maryam Lee or anyone else that goes
against the groupthink that certain quarters feel the need of defending. When Gerakan’s Raja Sara Petra got into a skirmish with DAP’s Dyana
Sofya Mohd Daud of DAP a couple of years back, the online abuse she
faced was horrific, considering the issue in contention was claims made
by Dyana of how Umno had “cheated the Malays.”
While the mob mentality of the opposition revolves around specific
narratives, that of establishment partisans usually centres on the role
of race and religion and how opposition operatives, either political or
social, are eschewing their traditional roles. If you read some of the comments whenever someone like Azalina Othman
Said, for instance, says anything, and contrast this with the comments
received by opposition operatives like Syerleena, both display a level
of misogyny that ironically opposition supporters do not see or seem to
understand.
Women who participate in politics from both sides of the political
divide tell me that the level of abuse they receive online is far worse
than the men, who more or less say the same thing. We are talking about a
specific type of hate here. When opposition women receive abuse from certain quarters of the
online community, there are outpourings of sympathy, but when it comes
to pro-establishment women, they are reminded that not to expect any
sympathy when they put themselves in the position of being "criticised.”
Rational discourse impossible
And if you are a Muslim woman, it is very much worse. Last year the BBC
ran an article titled “The online abuse hurled at Malaysia's Muslim
women,” which included quotes from not only Dyana, but also Maryam. It begins with this
and just gets more depressing: "‘We are seeing a trend where Muslim
women (particularly Malay-Muslims) are targeted in a different way,
especially when it comes to how they present themselves,’ says Juana
Jaafar, a women's rights advocate who followed the case of the
15-year-old girl. Juana says the attacks became so brutal for the girl,
she was forced to delete her account and seek help offline.”
The problem with all this online abuse, either from establishment or
opposition partisans, is that it makes rational discourse impossible.
Especially when it comes to reforming a religion or challenging the
status quo, women, more often than not – especially those who are Muslim
– are at the forefront. Either conservative or liberal, Muslim women are targets for what
they say by anonymous cretins, who have no problem spewing racial or
religious filth and smugly thinking that are on the "right" side.
When someone like Syerleena criticises the religious institutions
which have a profound impact on the lives of Muslims in this country, it
is a broader criticism on religious institutions who are do not have
the ability to sanction adherents, but which operate on a different
level. For example, I know of many women who self-identify as Hindu or
Christian who have been on the receiving end of online and real-life
abuse from their communities, because their activism challenges the
status quo when it comes to the respective religion and cultures.
As more women participate in the political and religious process of
this country, the more opportunities for online and real life abuse they
face. Many political operatives in the opposition, for instance, have
found themselves on the receiving end of state-sponsored online abuse. I say state-sponsored because inevitably the fight against the
patriarchy here in Malaysia revolves around the state-sponsored
religion, which is used as a tool to enforce compliance in the Malay
polity, with the state security apparatus having very little interest in
carrying out their obligations towards women they deem are bringing
shame to their culture and religion.
Lure of power
It is a good thing that Hindu, Christian and Buddhist religious
institutions do not have the same power of the state when it comes to
enforcing dogma, or it would be even worse. Can you imagine if the other
religions enjoyed the privileges of the state as Islam does? Seriously, can you imagine being under the watchful gaze of religious
departments or religious police and having to be wary of your fellow
countrymen who watch your every move and see nothing wrong in telling
you that you are going against religion and culture. Can you imagine
living like that every single day of your life?
If you have this power, especially of men over women, would you want
to give it up? The state and its religious bureaucrats, certainly do not
want to. The simmering tensions of what I refer to as the deep Islamic
state certainly despises women and men who choose to go against the
patriarchy. I am encouraged that the opposition at least makes an attempt to
tackle these issues. The opposition should have a clear strategy when it
comes to women's issues in this country.
After all, if I am not
mistaken, Muslim women are a big demographic when it comes to the
education in this country, meaning there are more women in educational
establishments, and thus are fertile ground to mine for votes and change
mindsets, while the men in their community don their red shirts and
fight the yellow peril.
Indeed, the women’s vote could be a major voting block for opposition
operatives already operating under the restrictions and electoral
legerdemain of the state. To be honest, I am sick and tired of hearing
how Muslim political operatives either defend the status quo or waffle
on about how we need to respect religious differences.
I end this piece with an excerpt from an article
by DAP’s Yeo Bee Yin last year about the patriarchy and the rape
culture in Malaysia – “Deep down, at the core of Umno’s Shabudin
Yahaya’s ‘marrying the rapist’ and ‘nine-year-old can wed’ notions, are
not only his personal perversion but also the manifestation of the
deep-rooted patriarchy in Malaysian society.”